


Labyrinth: Only the Beginning

by OliviaAR99



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaAR99/pseuds/OliviaAR99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After five long years of having evaded the Goblin King and his magic, Sarah is overcome with an unavoidable desire to return to the place that she had once destroyed. Jareth has invaded her mind, long before she was even aware, and is now determined to claim the power that lingers inside of her...as well as the woman that harbors them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I started working on this fanfiction a few years ago, and I just not picked it up again. I am dedicating this story not only to the original creator of the characters Jim Henson, but this particular fanfiction of mine will also be dedicated to a dear friend and fellow student named David, who passed away late last night after complications with an infection that he couldn't fight anymore. You will be greatly missed. RIP David.

**_Prologue_ **

        Whether it was determination to see him fall, or desperation to retrieve her brother, Sarah didn't know. All she knew, while she glared at the evil seductive Jareth, was that she was not going to allow this man to manipulate her any longer. Her mind was determined to watch him lose at his own personal game and lose the presence of the baby Toby.  
  
        Sarah's eyes cascaded over the Goblin King's well-sculpted body, but pushed any unwanted thoughts far from her mind before Jareth realized just what she was thinking. Her lips moved soundlessly trying so hard to find the right words to defeat the evil man before her, but she couldn't remember what to say, what to think anymore.  
  
        The baby Toby sat comfortably above his sister, watching through intense blue eyes as to what Sarah would do now that the Goblin King had her in his unpleasant, icy glare.  
  
        Jareth's face was all but welcoming. Still as stone, and cold as ice as if nothing could faze him. Nothing would faze him if he had anything to do with it. He mentally smirked at his handy work as he realized where the young Sarah's gaze had wandered. It amused him when he smelled the arousal of the young girl.  
  
        Sarah's eyes widened with realization. The words finally crossed her mind and with a daring move, she looked the Goblin King straight in the eyes and muttered the final words that would restore her brother, and rid herself of this place and Jareth.  
  
        "You have no power over me."  
  
        Jareth glared at her, a hint of amusement in his dangerous miss matched eyes. The moments dragged by, building a heavy tension between the two. Then Jareth threw his arm up, and the entire room began to spin, allowing Sarah to fall through the nothing air. Seeing the whole world of the Labyrinth fall into a pile of magic dust and crude fairy tales, gave the naive Sarah a big glimpse of exactly what kind of power she possessed.  
  
        Also, the fact that the Goblin city was now completely destroyed, angered Jareth to a high degree, but also fueled his reasons to take his revenge on the not so innocent young Sarah. She would soon be his, and she would never see it coming.  
  
        " _Sarah_." Jareth whispered. " _You'll never be free of me…never_.”

She refused to be afraid. “ _I’m not afraid of you_!” She shouted with all her might the hatred she felt for the goblin king. "I will _never_ fear you again!" Even as the words left her mouth, she wasn't quite sure if she believed them.

The only thing she heard before she found herself in the safety of her bedroom was a sinister laugh that chilled her to her very core.

It would be several years later before she heard the power within his voice again.


	2. Chapter One

**_Chapter One_ **   
_Five years later…_

            She felt the familiar eyes moving over her body, caressing her with curiosity. Sarah knew the reality. She was alone, standing only inches away from her beloved books, frozen in time and highly aware that there was something very wrong in the air. Glancing around with roaming eyes, she saw nothing in which to explain her growing fear, though the feeling of being watched sent her fragile heart to pounding. “Hello?” She spoke to the silence of the library, not caring that she may disturb anyone’s concentration.

            Nothing answered.

            Sarah paused for a moment before calling out again, only this time, louder. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

            Still nothing.

            Her fingers hovered near the tallest bookshelf, suspended before the building’s only copy of _Labyrinth_ , and everything in her body screamed for her to snatch her hand back.

            It happened every time she came to work. Sarah would come in, sit at her desk, check in and out books by the dozen and then proceed to return items to their proper shelves. She would avoid only one isle in particular, knowing the secrets that it contained, but unknown forces pulled the invisible chains that seemed permanently hooked into the teenager and dragged her back to face the memories of her past.

            Sarah, for the first time in five minutes, tuned out reality and focused on the tiny red book. _Oh, Hoggle…Ludo…could this be the day I see you all again?_ Her thoughts mourned the loss of her dearest friends, but fought against the exciting fear of another name. This name was special, and only plagued her thoughts every day since the destruction of the Underground…the _Goblin King._ “ _Jareth…”_ Sarah breathed gently while closing her soft hazel eyes.  

            _‘Sarah…’_

And there it was. The whispering wind, there was no mistaking it, had spoken from the deepest confines of the library and alerted her to his presence.

            Sarah’s eyes shot open, breaking from her trance, and yanked her arm back and away from the old book. “Not today, you’re Highness.” _Damn him!_ The long haired, brunette nineteen year old glared at the tallest shelf. _He is so close…I can almost feel his eyes watching me wherever I turn._ Her skin erupted into goose bumps, suddenly aware that the Goblin King was much closer than she had ever imagined.

            Her eyes closed in frustration at herself. Nothing was more upsetting than the inescapable feelings that arose in her pursuit of being an integral part of the Underground once more. Her desires to be in the company of her wonderful friends again always seemed to diminish whenever her hands came in contact with their home inside of her most beloved book. Jareth was always lurking within darkened corners, awaiting her arrival like the coming tides from a massive hurricane. She was dangerous to him. She was the reason that the Underground had been defeated and destroyed. Of course she was a threat! There was nothing more hazardous to the Goblin King’s newly rebuilt kingdom than its previous conqueror, which was a title that had been awarded to Sarah with hidden threats that were sure to be revealed whenever she dared to let her guard down. _Your eyes can be so cruel…just as I can be so cruel…_

            Sarah bit her bottom lip, hearing the echo of Jareth’s frightening voice within the protected walls of her own mind. She opened her hazel eyes and glanced around like she always did when she heard his voice. No one within the library seemed to be aware of her plight, which meant that she was still the only one that the Goblin King cared to attack with his silent powers. _I have been generous up until now, but I can be cruel…_

Blinking in surprise, Sarah bit into her lip harder as Jarath’s voice seemed to be much closer than before. She dared to answer him. _Generous…what have you done that’s generous?_

Sarah slammed herself back into the opposite bookshelf when she heard Jarath’s voice as if it were spoken inside of her right ear. _EVERYTHING!_

            Books were launched from the top and middle shelves on the other side of the heavy bookcase and aimed directly for the back of several students’ heads. A loud chorus of expletives and various “ow!” and “ouches!” rang out and alerted the student help desk clerks to come and investigate the cause. Even Sarah herself joined in the refrain as white hot sparks of pain shot out behind her clenched eyelids upon ramming the back of her skull into a low lining shelf.

            Clutching her aching cranium, she leaned herself forward to redirect the blood flow in her brain so that her oncoming headache wouldn’t pain her so bad. Rapid footsteps could be heard through her mild attempt at doctoring and she opened her eyes just in time to catch several of her coworkers rounding the corners of the bookcases on all sides and stopping next to her. “Sarah! What happened? Are you alright?”

Familiar hands fell onto her shoulders but she didn’t care to pay much attention to the owners. “Yeah, I’m fine!” She massaged her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I just got spooked by a spider that I found crawling out from between some books that I was straightening up.” A quick lie was the only sane explanation that she could give without making herself look like she was out of her mind.

One of the voices outside of her head, which was the voice connected to one of her dearest friends and current coworker, dared to question her further. “Why would you need to straighten up these books? I just did them a few minutes ago.”

“Sorry Megan. I was putting some books away and one of them was supposed to go on that shelf but there wasn’t any room. I had to shift them.” Sarah shook her head to clear it and looked over at her dark brown eyed, dark brown curly haired friend. Megan was giving her one of her classic “you are being ridiculous” looks. “Did you at least kill it?”

Sarah shook her head.

Megan rolled her eyes. “You let that thing loose in the school library?”

“Do I look like I would let a spider loose in here?” Sarah stood straight up and shrugged off the additional hands of her other coworkers and faced her friend. “Look, I’m okay now, so can we please get back to our jobs? I need to pick of the other books that my head managed to knock down.”

“Do you need to see the campus doctor?” Another coworker asked from behind her.

Sarah shook her smarting head once again. “No, Dave, I’m good. Go back to work, everyone.”

It took several long seconds for the last of her concerned coworkers to disperse, Megan being the one left behind. “Alright, well if you see that spider again; try to refrain from killing the other students until after you’ve disposed of it, please?” Megan then disappeared around the corner, leaving Sarah alone once again in the company of the little red leather book.

It appeared so innocent wedged between several volumes. Sarah braced herself against the adjacent bookcase and stared at its seemingly harmless appearance. A dangerous laugh echoed within her mind, alerting her once again to Jareth’s presence while she stared. _Everything that you wanted, I have done._ Sarah’s heart began to pound. _You asked that the child be taken. I took him._ Her memories reverted back to the face of her younger brother, who appeared so innocent, but in turn proved to be stronger in his adolescence than she was now. _You cowered before me, I was frightening…_ Her cheeks flushed as the memories of Jareth circling her like a hawk enveloped her senses and took her back in time to the night of his destruction. _I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you!_  Sarah remembered him as he stopped directly before her and leaned in, watching her with his deadly eyes. _I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn’t that generous?_ She trembled in fear of her past. _Yes…fear me, Sarah. Fear me, love me, do as I say…and I will be your slave…_

Her eyes closed, and she saw him once again. He watched her with the fire of bitterness inside of his mismatched eyes. Sarah shook within the memory of his terrifying beauty. Everything inside of her reverted back to her fearless fourteen year old self. _You have…_ Jareth moved closer to her, making Sarah breathe out her words as if he was capable of rendering her speechless the nearer he got.  _You…have no…_ He was so close that she could almost taste his breath against her trembling lips. He was fully capable of breaking though every barrier that Sarah had set for herself if he could render her so vulnerable by his memory. _You have no power…over…_

Jareth smirked within her vision. _Oh, but I do, Sarah._ His voice held a wicked promise that made Sarah’s knees buckle beneath her weight. _I really think that I hold more power over you now, more than I ever have before…Come into my Labyrinth, Sarah…we are all_ longing _to see you again…_

Sarah’s lips parted in a soft gasp as her body threatened to betray her true emotions. Jareth was so close, watching her with a power that she had declared that he did not posses once before. _Stop this! Stop toying with me! This isn’t fair…_

Jareth’s very familiar chuckle left her bitter. _You still haven’t learned…life is never fair…_

Sarah chewed at her bottom lip until she tasted the coppery flavor of blood. _I have won the battle against you, Goblin King. I won back the child that you had taken from me. Leave me alone!_

Jareth’s eyes captured her own and held her still with an unseen energy that dominated every limb and muscle that she harbored within herself. Sarah’s heart hammered inside of her ribcage, threatening to break loose and fly about the room. Without even having to touch her, the Goblin King stepped so close inside of her comfort zone that his heat threatened to burn her alive from the inside out. His voice whispered wickedly within her ears. _You have won only the freedom of your brother, Sarah. I said nothing at all about you having won back yours._ With those words, his lips found hers, parted and delved inside. His tongue sought out hers and before she could protest, he had taken hold of her senses and left her helpless within his grasp. The emotions that welled up inside of her, battled with her hatred and secret desire for him.

It took her several seconds to take back her senses. Despite her want of him, she dared to struggle. With great effort, Sarah gained the feeling back into her arms and she placed her hands against his chest. Catching him off guard, she shoved him backward and removed herself from her own imagination. After several more seconds, her eyes opened and she found herself still present in her college library as if none of it had happened. The only thing peculiar about her became apparent when she realized that her right arm was extended and her right hand was less than a centimeter away from touching the Labyrinth book.

Startled, Sarah yanked her arm back and leaned against the adjacent bookcase, breathing heavily though trying to calm down. “ _You’re lying!”_ She whispered fiercely to the book as if the inanimate object had ears. _My freedom was never in question! It was only Toby that I had to worry about, not myself!_

Jareth invaded her thoughts once more. _Your brother was freed due to our negotiation, Sarah. But like a contract, there is always something hidden within the fine print. Toby’s freedom…in exchange for yours. The next time you come in contact with your friends from_ my _world, you will be mine…and I will not allow you a chance to escape a second time…even if I have to come collect you myself._

Sarah stared in shock. Was it true? Had she unknowingly forfeited her freedom to save her brother?

Terrified, she separated herself from the book that contained her prison and her captor and raced back to her work desk, hoping that no one would notice her strange behavior. Luckily, her absence had been ignored by her coworkers and she was able to resume her work as if nothing had happened, but her mind continued to swim with uncertainty. _How could I not have known? It doesn’t make sense! I did nothing to make myself a part of the Underground! I brought nothing back with me to keep me linked to it except my friendship with everyone I met along the way through it._

“Hey Sarah?” Someone asked from behind her.

Sarah turned around in her chair and sought out the owner of the question. “Yeah, Dave?”

Dave, who was a one of the biggest nerds she had ever met and even looked the part with his wire rimmed glasses, tall lanky figure, and wearing a t-shirt featuring several Marvel comic book heroes was standing over her holding something that was concealed in his fist. “I can’t eat these because I have an allergy to them. Do you want it?”

Sarah cocked an eyebrow in confusion since she couldn’t see what he was holding, but shrugged and decided to help him out despite the disadvantage. “Uh, sure I guess.” She held out her own hand and watched in slow motion as the completely unaware teen dropped a beautifully ripe, bright orange peach into her open palm. Dave left her with a muffled ‘thanks’ in his wake. Sarah felt her spine tingle as the non threatening fruit felt as if it were becoming heavier. Her lips parted and her lower jaw dropped in a terrifying realization. _Oh god…Jareth, you…_ Her stomach did an unsettling flip as memories of ball gowns, disfigured goblin masks and seductive music teased her resolve. The menacing beauty of the Goblin King was not far behind.   

His wicked laugh penetrated her barriers once more, and startled her to the point where she leaped from her desk, allowing the peach in her grasp to fall to the ground at her feet.

Megan was the only one able to reach her through her fear. “Sarah, what the hell?”

Without answering, Sarah ran. She ran past all the desks, all the students who were staring after her as if she had lost her mind, and out the front doors of the campus. She ran until her lungs threatened to explode, and then she ran some more until her world turned black.


	3. Chapter Two

**_Chapter Two_ **

            Sarah awoke with a sharp intake of breathe and shot up in her bed. Glancing around wildly, she searched for any sign that she might not be as alone as she had let herself believe before she’d gone to sleep. Realizing that nothing and no one was out of place, she dropped her face into her hands and breathed deeply to sooth her racing heart. _Jareth, what have you done to me?_ Like always, there was no reply and she learned to never expect one; the Goblin King was notorious for appearing when she least expected him.

            For years, her dreams had been plagued by his face, with its devilish features and probing stare that could read her like an opened book. Sometimes, Sarah wondered if any of her dreams were ever more than what they appeared to be. She had learned a valuable lesson long ago to not judge anything by just seeing it for the first time. But none of her dreams were the same as the ones before, making it exceedingly difficult to separate the facts from a false reality. _Damn you, Jareth!_ Still, the air was silent.

            Sighing heavily, she lifted her head and stared off into the darkness. Feeling consumed by its foreboding atmosphere, Sarah leaned sideways and reached a hand out, blindly groping for her bedside table lamp switch. Homing in on it, she yanked the tiny ball and chain until she heard a familiar click and her bedroom was bathed in a soft honey glow provided by her light tan lampshade.

            Even in the glow of her lamplight, Sarah saw nothing out of place. Rolling her eyes at herself for the overreaction, she sighed again and turned her full attention to the contents of her bedside table.

            Everything was left as it was from before she had gone to sleep. Her glass of water and bottle of sleeping pills sat untouched. After having such a productive day, she had had no need to take those little white pills because she was already dead on her feet when she got home for the evening. But that didn’t stop her from feeling as if she had overlooked some kind of not so obvious detail. Something was off, although nothing caught her eye.

            Scanning over all of her table’s contents, Sarah’s peripheral vision noticed that the book she had been reading before she fell asleep was lying flat on its back and open to the final page. _That’s funny…I don’t remember finishing it so quickly._ She turned her full attention to the book that she knew so well. _Labyrinth._

            Sarah had just finished writing a musical that was not only based on her excursions in the Underground, but also on the book that was now resting innocently on her nightstand. At the age of twenty-five, she was currently in the process of staging her own theater production and had needed to consult her original muse for inspiration to continue with directing and producing her first show. It seemed like ages since she had gone to school for musical theater and graduated with honors, but after just having had a dream that closely resembled a real life event for her, she was becoming a little spooked. Her blackout was one of the single most unrealistically real events that she had ever been known to endure.

            She had been convinced that she would one day wake up and find herself taken away like her brother had been. Granted, Toby’s adventure into the Underground was strictly her own fault and she still harbored guilt for her sin, but saving him and defeating her enemy almost more than made up for it. Even Toby, who was now well aware of his big sister’s mistake, had forgiven her despite not remembering any of it because he was a little under the age of two at the time. If anything, he loved it when Sarah took the time and effort to sit down and replay the events of those harrowing thirteen hours.

            But Toby’s forgiveness wasn’t enough for Sarah until after her blackout days, which was an episode of deep depression and anxiety brought on by a lack of efficient sleep and it lasted for a period of two weeks with Sarah locked up inside of a hospital room. All of this had happened because she had started to hear the voice of the Goblin King, clear as crystal, whispering reminders of her actions that destroyed his labyrinth in her quest to gain her brothers freedom. The last day that she had heard his voice ringing in her ears was the day that she discovered that she had not only given her brother away, by accident, she had unknowingly agreed to Jareth’s sneaky conditions that if she reached the castle in time to take back her brother, she would have to forfeit her own freedom in exchange for Toby’s. Her fate had been sealed at the moment that she had eaten the peach that Jareth forced Hoggle to give to her.

            The last day that Jareth’s voice whispered into her ears that she was his was the day of her blackout. Even now, Sarah still could not remember what had occurred within the two weeks that her mind had gone dark except for a few memories of her father and stepmother coming to visit. On the last day of her stay in the hospital, her parents had brought Toby alone, who had been seven years old at the time. Upon seeing his bright, happy, yet concerned face, Sarah woke up from her fog and later confided in him everything that she had done. To her amazement, she was forgiven. He had believed her and promised to keep their adventure a secret from their parents. Even to this day, when Toby was at the age of thirteen, he still believed her and still requested that she regale him with the events that transpired in the realm of the Goblin King.

            Back in the moment, Sarah smiled upon remembering that her now teenaged brother was currently sleeping in her guest bedroom. He had asked to stay the night so that he could be present during Sarah’s dress rehearsal in the morning. Even though acting and theater were not his favorite pastime, he was always fascinated by what exactly went on where the stage crew were building new scene props. Toby was a magician when it came to building and creating new things. Their parents loved it when Sarah would come up with random tasks or projects for him to do. At home, there was very little to be fixed, altered or constructed, so any chance that Toby could get to pick up a hammer and nails, he was elated.

            Sarah paused. For some unknown reason she had a sudden overwhelming urge to make sure that Toby was safe and sound in the bed next door.

            Removing herself from the protection of her covers, she was exposed to the chill of the night air. Sarah slid to the edge of her mattress, threw her feet over the side and slid them into her bedside slippers while she reached over and grabbed her short, lavender bathrobe. Forcing her arms into the sleeves as quick as she could to escape the nightly chill, she got up, headed for the door and slithered into her apartment hallway. As silently as possible, she made her way toward her guest bedroom, which was only a few feet away, and she placed an open palm against its cool surface and nudged it open to see inside.

            Intuition told her two things: something wasn’t right about the atmosphere in the apartment, and Toby was the reason why.

            The atmosphere, which was always calm or full of excitement depending on her mood or the mood of her guests, was stagnant when it should have at least felt safe. “ _Toby?”_ She whispered while the bedroom door opened just a little wider so that she could peer inside. “ _Toby…are you alright?”_ It was just like lightning to appear at a moment when she had been prepared for any kind of frightening or unexpected sight, making Sarah’s limbs jerk in surprise while the thunder barreled through the night. The wind outside screamed through the trees while the storm began to roll in from the coast.

            Sighing in annoyance by her childish reactions, she huffed at herself and pushed Toby’s door open enough to step inside. A sudden chill of déjà vu struck her like the bolt of lightning from outside had managed to travel through the saturated ground in the yard and all the way up into the apartment building walls, through the floors and straight up her spine. She froze just in time for another lightning bolt to streak across the night sky, lighting up the room and making Sarah realize that her little brothers bed was vacant while his bed sheets appeared to have been slept in. _“Toby…_ ” She blinked once, hoping that it was just her imagination playing dirty tricks on her, and then twice due to the fact that the first time didn’t work, and finally a third time because she was so alarmed that she couldn’t think of anything else to do but try to force her brain to see otherwise. _“Toby…_ Toby…TOBY!” With each repeat, her voice lifted several octaves until she was all but shouting.

            She broke out of her frozen state and dove for the bed, convinced that he might somehow still remain hidden within the sheets. Frantically, she tore the black and beige comforter and pillows away from the mattress and was just about to tear the sheets free from the bed when she heard her name being called from the hallway. Startled, Sarah yanked her hands back to herself and ran for the door. “ _Toby!_ ” The door opened again before she could reach it and her little brother stepped inside.

Toby was less than half a foot shorter than she was, lean, and he was sporting a ruffled mop of short light brown hair that was matted to the back of his head from sleep. “Sarah? What’s wrong?” The thirteen year old didn’t have a chance to notice the mess that his big sister had made of his bed. Sarah was too busy wrapping him into a bone crushing hug that not only knocked the wind out of him but also caused the glass of water he had just gotten to slip out of his grasp and crash into the wood floor. A wall of ice cold water lapped at their heels and flowed into their slippers, but this didn’t phase Sarah one bit. “Sar-!” His voice cut off half way.

“Don’t you _ever_ do that again!” Her face couldn’t be seen, but Toby could have sworn on his new tool boxes that Sarah was near tears. It took him a few seconds to realize why she was so shaken.

“You didn’t wish for the Goblin King to take me away again, did you?” Toby knew that his sister would never be foolish enough to make that mistake again. He was only trying to make light of the situation because he also knew that Jareth hadn’t attempted to make contact with Sarah since her blackout period. Try as he might to fully understand what had caused her breakdown so long ago, it still confused him sometimes due to the reality that there was still something that he was sure that Sarah was too afraid to tell him. It was the way she acted sometimes when it would storm while he stayed overnight with her, or  how she acted whenever she’d see a certain type of fruit that was not allowed in her apartment no matter how many times Toby had requested it. Too afraid to question her fears, he remained mute whenever Sarah would appear jumpy or scared by the little things.

Sarah was rendered speechless until she got full control of herself again. When all conscious thought was returned, she squeezed her brother one last time before she pulled away. Her eyes were red rimmed from unshed tears of relief. “God, Toby…I’m so sorry! I was just being ridiculous. I don’t know why I reacted so foolishly...I was just so startled by the stor-“ Sarah stopped mid explanation and looked down at her feet to discover then drowning in ice water. “You were getting a drink of water?”

Toby had to stifle a chuckle as the sight of his sister’s startled expression as it turned into a look of sudden realization and then guilty mortification. “Eh…yeah. But for the record, I’m not going to be drinking from that glass anymore.” Toby stepped back and examined the water damage. “Looks like I need to get a mop.” He shook his head in mild amusement and turned to exit the room, but stopped when he noticed his bed. “Um…Sarah, why did you destroy my sheet?”

Sarah’s cheeks reddened but in the dark, couldn’t be noticed. Feeling foolish beyond anything she had ever imagined, she glanced down at her feet. “Just go get the broom and dustpan, please? I’ll stay here and fix your bed.”

“Why would I need the broom? I can’t sweep water.”

Sarah gave him an ‘are you kidding me?’ look. “No, but the shards of your cup are brewing in the puddle and I’d like to have them collected in the dustpan before mopping so that our feet don’t become casualties later on.”

“Right.”  

Several minutes later, the mess had been cleaned and dried and all was well until Toby came back after putting away the cleaning supplies and found Sarah sitting at the edge of his newly made bed and staring off into space. Standing in the doorway, Toby crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe while he waited for his sister to figure out that he was there, which she never did, prompting him to clear his throat with a little extra oomph.

            “I knew you were standing there, Toby.”

“What’s wrong, sis?”

Sarah closed her eyes, bowed her head and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry for the way I acted, tonight. I was being stupid.”

“No kidding. Did something happen that I don’t know about?”

Sarah nodded while Toby walked over and sat next to her. She wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. “I had a dream tonight that stirred up some old ghosts.”

“What did you dream?”

A moment of silence passed. “I dreamed about the day I had my breakdown.”

Toby gave her a funny look. “I don’t really remember that day very well. All I remember is mom telling me you had been taken to the hospital after you were found outside the house passed out in the yard.”

Sarah stifled a chuckled. _Might as well laugh at it now._ “No, you were only seven at the time, I think. But do you remember what I told you about Jareth and the Underground?”

“Um…yeah, why?”

Sarah looked up at her brother. “Did I ever tell you why Jareth took you from me when you were a baby?”

Toby’s nod was slightly exaggerated. “More times than I can count. You wished me away.”

Sarah shook her head. “That isn’t the only reason he took you, Toby.”

The thirteen year old cocked an eyebrow. “There was another reason that I was almost turned into a goblin at the age of two?”

“Um…yeah.”

“Explain, please?”

Sarah unwrapped her arms and stood up but didn’t face him. “The King of the Underground…well…he was kind of…in love with me?”

Toby pursed his lips and blinked several times while the information sunk in. “What do you mean _was_?”

Sarah spun around and looked down at him. Her eyes were dead serious. “He had fallen in love with me…he took you when I wished for you to be taken to prove how much he loved me.”

“Why are you just _now_ telling me this?”

“Because there was something else you didn’t know, and it has to do with my breakdown that I had a few years ago?”

“He’s not gonna try and kidnap me again, is he? I do try my best not to cry anymore, I hope you know!” Toby was just trying to be silly, but the look on his sister’s face told him that she was not in the mood to laugh. “Alright, I’m not going to have be looking over my shoulder for this guy in the next few weeks, am I?”

“Toby…your freedom came with a price…I had to give up something in order for you to be able to come home with me.”

Toby didn’t like where this was going. “Sarah?”

“I had to…” Sarah bit her lip, trying to force the words to appear inside of her mind so that she could tell him the truth, but they wouldn’t come. “I had to…I’m sorry, Toby. I’ll tell you later.”

“What?” Toby jumped to his feet, intrigued by what she might possibly have to say. “No fair! Tell me!”

“It’s late, little brother.” She stepped closer to him and gave him another hug, which he accepted, but his face had managed to fall into a semi permanent state of annoyed disbelief. “Tell you what. After dress rehearsal tomorrow, I’ll take you out to dinner before the show and tell you then. Ok?”

The thirteen year old was not happy. “You can’t do that to me! I’m not gonna be able to sleep now because of you!”

Sarah grinned. “You had better try because I am not taking you with me tomorrow unless you are well rested. Last thing I need is for you to get hurt because you were too tired to pay attention to where the hammer meets the nails in the props. Bed!” Her exaggerated finger pointing made her brother roll his eyes, causing Sarah to laugh out loud before she headed for the door. “G’night!”

“I’m holding you to that, sis!”

“Oh, I know you will, bro!” Sarah closed the door behind her and headed back to her own room. Before she pushed her door open, she rested her forehead against its cool surface and groaned. _Jareth, if I find him missing, I will end you. Do you hear me?_ No response. _What a surprise. Like I was expecting you to answer after years of silence. I know you can hear me! He goes missing, I destroy you!_ In the absence of his voice, she knew what he would have said if he had bothered to say it, and she didn’t care. _Just try and screw with me, Goblin King. I dare you…_ With that last thought, she walked into her room, closed and locked the door behind her and removed her disgustingly squishy slippers and crawled into her warm bed covers.

Just as she was about to turn off her light, she glanced at her alarm clock to catch the time. “Oh, my god!” She shoved herself backward and fell onto the floor when she saw the glowing numbers. “That isn’t possible!” Sarah scrambled to get off the floor and dove back onto her bed to take a second look at her clock. “Midnight? But it just said-!” _It had just said…clear as crystal…13:00…_            


	4. Chapter Three

**_Chapter Three_ **

            Sarah smiled sweetly. “Alright, you guys! That’s enough for today! We have a big night ahead of us and I want everyone fed, watered and rested before hitting the stage in a few hours! Go out and relax, but keep practicing your lines in your heads! I don’t want anyone to forget them and if you do, I’ll take your heads off myself without the help of the Wild Gang!” A chorus of laughter filled the stage. It was hardly a threat since Sarah was too kind and too sweet to ever really want to exact some kind of revenge on anyone for being human and forgetting lines.

 The cast, though exhausted by their days work on the stage, had one last surprise for their director. In the front row of the goblin battle scene, a young woman playing the lead role of Sarah’s greatest theatrical work yet, took a step forward and removed her hands behind her back. She was dressed in a very familiar medieval style off white gown with a ribbon like gold sash that wrapped around the waist, and her hair was twisted into a knot that was pinned up to hold Sarah’s flimsy old crown. The woman’s name was Kathryn, who was actually 17, but her part in the production was that of Sarah’s fourteen year old self. If Sarah didn’t know better, she would have assumed that this woman was her doppelganger sent from her past to remind her of her unique dreams of adolescence. It was almost frightening how closely they resembled each other.

Kathryn had somehow managed to slip an entire bouquet of vibrant orange and yellow tiger lilies out onto the stage hidden behind her slender frame.

Caught off guard, Sarah took a step back and gapped at the unexpected gift. Before any other emotion could shield her stunned surprise, her cast of over one hundred shouted in unison a round of ‘thank you’s’, ‘good lucks’ and ‘congratulations’ while the flaming orange and yellow flower arrangement was shoved into her hands. Her throat turned thick with a mix of gratitude and embarrassment just as the tears began to flood her already watery eyes. “This is so sweet, you guys! Thank you!” She received hugs from everyone until one by one, the stage emptied, leaving her and a handful of stage crew behind. “You guys are awesome! These backdrops look amazing!”

Sarah took a step back, kicked one of the theater chairs to force the seat down and put her bouquet in it and then turned back to the crew who were currently working on the replica of her bedroom that she had when she was a teen. “Hey guys, that vanity mirror needs to be on the opposite side of the wall facing the door, and those stuffed animals need to be placed on the shelves before the curtain goes up, please! Dmitri, where is the jewelry box and makeup chest? The red lipstick needs to be within Kathryn’s sight when she hits the stage. Toby, will you please move my music box to the top of the hope chest next to _Where the Wild Things Are_? Alright you guys, where is Lancelot? This isn’t the time to be playing hide and seek with my old toys! My mother gave me that teddy bear before she died!”

“Chill sis, I have him here!” Toby, who was standing behind her old hope chest and had just set down her music box, was currently displaying her old teddy bear in his left hand as it was lifted high in the air.

“Thank you! Now put him in the crib for right now so that we don’t lose him later on!” Sarah took a second to collect her nerves because at that moment, they were going haywire. Her hands began to shake and her head began to spin as though she were currently twirling in circles on her toes like a drunken ballerina. “Toby, did you call Dad and ask him when he would be here with my mom’s old scrapbooks and playbills? I need them for the first act.” She rubbed her forehead to ease her brewing headache.

Toby shouted from up above in the rafters. “Yeah, he said he’d be here an hour before the show! Mom’s going to meet him here at a quarter till to take their seats!”

“I thought she was coming with Dad? And what are you doing up there? If either one of them finds out you’ve been up in the rafters, they’ll kill me!” Sarah dropped her hand, walked up toward the stage steps and made her way to where the backdrop just barely hovered above the floor. She looked up just in time to catch her brother hanging by his knees and screwing in a bolt on one of the stage lights that had managed to come loose. There was no hesitation. “TOBY WILLIAMS! GET DOWN FROM THERE!” She was too pissed to be terrified. “Who let him up there?” She jerked her head away from her brother so that she could scan the stage for the guilty party.

“Don’t panic, Sarah! He’s in the harness!” Sarah looked back up and saw another figure that she could have sworn wasn’t there before. The owner of the voice was a man in his early thirties who had a curly mass of red hair on the top of his head, a very freckly face and a very well built frame. He was currently standing behind Toby and was holding on to the end of a robe that was wrapped around the waist of Sarah’s little brother. His name was Chris. “He’s secure, Sarah! See?” Chris held up his half of the rope to prove that he had a firm grip on it.

This did little to settle Sarah’s nerves. “Damn it, Chris! You could have at least asked me first before you let him do that! Gah!” Sarah threw her hands up in annoyance before she turned on her heels and headed backstage.

In the jumbled mess of goblin puppets, masks and rack after rack of ball gowns and jewel encrusted tuxedos, Sarah saw the light at the end of the dark and twisted road that made up her vivid fairytale like imagination. In the disarray of stage madness, a clear picture was beginning to form and the entire town would soon be able to see just how insane Sarah could really get. Only one person aside from herself knew that this play, this musical, was based on truth and that person was her step brother. Their parents were completely unaware of it. All they knew was what Sarah had told them, which she had pretended was only a very vivid and lifelike dream that occurred on the same night that the play was based on. Even the new playbills lied, saying that her play had all been a result of her childish young self’s desire to live in a fairytale, which came about by her favorite book. Supposedly, she had fallen asleep while babysitting her baby brother and her mind had given her the fairytale that she had so longed to be a part of. It was the perfect cover up to keep the truth hidden between only Sarah and Toby…and of course the play’s antagonist, the Goblin King himself.

Sarah groaned as she was hit with a wave of lightheadedness. She leaned against a rack of costumes for support. _What is wrong with me, now?_

“You alright, boss?” Another member of the stage crew appeared from behind one of the bigger set pieces. It was a man no older than Sarah, who was almost a full foot taller than she and but this one was not as bulky as Chris was. This guy was instead quite lanky and was sporting a head of long blonde hair that was pulled back into a loose ponytail. His eyes were light blue, but were veiled by the shadows of poor backstage lighting. “You’re not looking so good.”

“I’m just nervous, David, but thanks for making me feel better.” The last half of that statement was of course sarcasm, but to Sarah’s knowledge, no guy had the ability to catch it without a little assistance. “Next time, don’t say anything about how I look unless it’s to tell me I look good despite the stress.” Sarah smiled up at him and laughed a little so that David didn’t take offense.

He didn’t. Instead, David returned her laugh and shook his head. “Sure thing, boss. Now indulge me for a second. Are you alright?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, just a little dizzy. I think my nerves are getting to me.”

David crossed his arms and stared at her questioningly. “When was the last time you ate anything?”

“Huh? Oh, I ate about an hour-” She glanced down at her watch and blinked in surprise. “Oh! It’s already 4:30? I haven’t eaten since nine this morning!”

David nodded. “Uh huh. That’s what I thought.”

Sarah rubbed her forehead to ease the pressure of her oncoming headache. “That explains why my head is trying to explode.”

“Go eat something, Sarah. Before you fall over and make us cancel the show.” David put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and directed her toward the stage. “Go get your brother and have some dinner. I’ll make sure the crew gets everything ready for you for when you get back.”

Given the fact that there was very little for her to do anyway on the stage until curtain call, Sarah gave in just in time for her stomach to catch up to the time and rumble from a lack of fuel.

About thirty minutes later, she and Toby were in the car halfway across town about to pull into the parking lot of one of the new restaurants that recently opened up in the town square. “I don’t know about you, little brother, but I want some chicken tacos and salsa. Sound good?” Sarah and Toby sprang from the car and raced toward Lime, which was considered one of the best Mexican restaurants, and also the healthiest (although that could be disputed). 

The two siblings ended up in a booth near the back of the room, creating the perfect place to hold a friendly conversation without strangers straining to hear the secrets that they might unknowingly share. But Sarah’s secrets were the ones that needed to be spoken, and Toby was the only person worthy of the privilege.

They ordered their food while they discussed set pieces, paints, wood types and light bulbs, and switched to costumes and props not long after their meal arrived. Their talks of various things added a light air around them until they were halfway through with their plates when Toby brought up the events of the previous night. “So when are you gonna tell me what you gave up in exchange to bring me home from the Underground? You promised me you’d tell me after rehearsals.”

Sarah was in the middle of chewing on a mouthful of salsa when she almost choked on it. “Sheesh, Toby! This couldn’t wait till I was finished?”

“You promised!”

Sarah swallowed quickly before she had a chance to turn blue and took a few gulps of ice water from her glass to keep from coughing her lungs out. “Alright, alright! You’re right, I did promise.”

Toby smiled brightly and went back to attacking his own food while he kept his attention on her. Sarah was busy rolling her eyes at him before she went on with the rest of her explanation.   

“Toby, when I wished you away, I entered into a sort of unwritten contract with Jareth.” Sarah breathed in deeply to keep herself calm. “My goal when I agreed to his terms was to get you back and take you home. What he didn’t tell me, however, was that if I took anything back with me from the Underground that I didn’t originally have with me when I went there, I would be permanently connected to the power of the Labyrinth.”

Toby cocked an eyebrow and paused before taking another bite of his enchilada. “Which was what, exactly?”

“I took a bite of the peach that he had given to Hoggle to give to me. It was laced with a poison designed to make me forget what I was looking for.” Sarah bit her lip out of habit while she pondered the words that would make up her next sentence. “Because I ate that peach, I’m able to return to the Labyrinth.”

“That isn’t all that you had to tell me. There is something else, isn’t there?” The thirteen year old was more aware of things most teenagers didn’t see until they escaped their teens and surpassed their twenties.

“Yeah…” Sarah hesitated, but knew she had to say it. “In exchange for your safe return home, I had to sacrifice my freedom for yours. I belong to the Underground.”

“You belong to the Goblin King…” Toby set his fork down, put his elbows on the table and rested his chin into his hands while he studied his sister’s face. In that moment, he looked well beyond his thirteen years. “How is it that you are still here if you gave up your freedom for me?” 

Sarah offered him a weak smile. “He was stupid enough to grant me certain powers, which I ultimately used to destroy his Labyrinth. Jareth couldn’t keep me there after I had wielded his powers against him so viciously. He was weak and incapable of keeping me there, so I managed to come back home at the same time as you.” She cleared her throat and looked at her glass of water as if it were the most fascinating thing on the table. “He had no power over me…at the time. Though right now, I’m sure if I tried to make contact with my friends, his power would be ten thousand times greater than what it was when I destroyed his kingdom. He could bring me back to the Underground at any second, if I gave him the opportunity to try.”

“He’d never be able to do that. He’d have to get past me first!” Toby’s fist hit the table and sent their silverware flying.

Sarah put her hand over Toby’s clenched fist to calm him. “Keep quiet! It’s not like he could do it while we were sitting here in a packed restaurant in the middle of late afternoon! Besides, I haven’t spoken to my friends or _him_ in years. The only time I see him is in my dreams, and I doubt he can do anything except glare at me while there. I would have to create a way for him to come to me, which I haven’t.”

“That you _know_ of!” Toby huffed and glared at his own glass of water. “Maybe you could have done so in your sleep! You never know, Sarah. He could be waiting for you around the corner as we speak!”

Sarah had to quell a laugh. “As if he could be so mundane. If he had the chance to bring me back to the Underground, it would either be in the most elaborate way that he knows how, or the most unexpected way that neither of us can think of.” She looked around the crowded room and laughed aloud this time. “He could be dressed as one of those dinners, or maybe one of the waiters. Or he could be watching us from outside this building, across the street, or maybe even from one of his enchanted crystals in his castle. The point is that there is no way to know where he is or what he is up to because I haven’t seen or heard from him in _years_ , Toby. I highly doubt he’d mess with me until he is certain that I won’t see it coming.”

Toby chewed at his bottom lip. “I don’t care. I can still be a concerned brother no matter what you say to make me feel better.”

Sarah grinned and reached a hand across the table to stir Toby’s hair. “Sometimes I miss the little baby brother that used to cry whenever I left the room just to annoy me.”

“Oh shut up, will you!” Toby pushed her hand away and attempted to fix his messed up hair. “We’d better hurry and get back to the theater. I still need to fix the other stage light.”

Sarah glared. “You must think I’m stupid if you believe I’m going to let you back up on that platform again. Chris is lucky I didn’t go up there a knock him out for letting you hang down like you were!”

Toby smiled. “If you had knocked him out, then I would probably have broken my neck from falling and then you would have had to explain to the ‘rents about how it happened.”

“No, their quadriplegic son would have had to do the honors as I would have been thrown in jail for the attempted murder of one of my stage hands.” Sarah hailed for the check, which she was given seconds later. “Come on, let’s get out of here and get back to the theater. We need to get changed before the show and it’s already a quarter to six!” They gathered their to-go boxes after the check was paid and left before the six o’clock dinner rush. They still had a thirty minute drive back to the theater and the show started at seven. “I’m going to have to punch it to get back on time.” Sarah looked over at her brother from the driver’s seat after getting in the car. “Say nothing to your mom about my driving skills and I’ll let you back up on the platform to get to the other light. Deal?”

Toby finished fastening his seat belt and flashed an elated grin. “Deal!” They crossed fists to engage their secret handshake for deal making and then they were off.

Sarah dodged traffic in ways that still left Toby mystified, but he never questioned it. They made it back to the theater in twenty minutes instead of thirty and he was able to get back up to the lights to fix the last one while his sister watched him do it, biting her nails until he was finished and safely back at ground level. “Am I staying back here during the production, or am I going out front to watch with the ‘rents?”

Sarah wrapped him in a strong hug when he got close enough to her. “You’re not strong enough to move the big set pieces.”

“Maybe not but I _am_ able to move the smaller ones _and_ some of the furniture! Come on, Sarah! Please?”

Sarah released him and stepped back, crossing her arms in the process. “This time, it’s not up to me. Ask your mom.” She laughed out loud at the horror on Toby’s face. “Hey, you have your suit and tie here, as well as your ‘all blacks’. She could go either way, so I’d call her cell and start begging if I were you. If she says you can stay back here, then go get your ‘all blacks’ on so that the audience doesn’t see you moving the furniture. If she says no, then you had better learn how to tie a Windsor knot before the curtain goes up, or she’ll force a bow tie on you.” Sarah grinned as Toby’s horror stricken self disappeared behind the curtains, cell phone already in hand and dialing her step-mother’s number.

Sarah shook her head in amusement before turning her attention to the jumbled chaos that was the noisy backstage. She began to shout. “Hey, everybody! Shut up!” She had to yell ‘shut up’ a total of four times in order to achieve full awareness. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, I have a surprise for all of you! As my gift to you all for all of your hard work, I have arranged for a buffet after the final curtain call! Everything is bought and paid for, and if you are not on stage at any point after the beginning of act two, then you will be able to start eating because the chefs are already preparing the food downstairs as we speak! But if I catch any of you with a chicken leg, hot wing, fries, or a plate of mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese anywhere on or _near_ the stage, I will jump you! If you haven’t eaten already, I’m sure that some of the food is already finished, so feel free to run downstairs and have a quick bite. We have forty-five minutes to get stage ready, people! Let’s hustle!” Sarah cleared her throat to gather her second wind. “Kathryn, get your costume and makeup on, Jackie will come fix your hair in a few minutes! Christian, why is your makeup not finished? The Goblin King doesn’t look like he just rolled out of bed when he hits the stage! Where is Christian’s wig? Somebody, fix him! And where is Holly? We need Jackson dressed and in the crib as soon as possible!”

Someone across the auditorium shouted back. “She’s on her way!”

“Thank you!” Sarah didn’t see who answered but she waved to acknowledge that she heard them. “Can someone tell me where my goblins are? Don’t turn them on until after Toby goes missing, guys! We don’t have an endless supply of batteries!” Exasperated, Sarah growled through her teeth. “Stage crew! Get the right set pieces on stage! We don’t have time for this!” She stormed through the next fifteen minutes until she felt herself going hoarse. “Toby, did you talk to mom, yet? Don’t forget to remind them to bring Merlin! I only need him for the first ten minutes of the play and then we can keep him downstairs with the other actors! They’ll watch him for me until I can get him home, later.” Her faithful dog was pushing fifteen years, but was still capable of being as energetic as a puppy on his good days.

“Put a cork in it, sis! They are on their way!”

Sarah rolled her eyes upon hearing Toby’s tone. It was obvious that mommy dearest has said no to his request to work backstage, but she would soon change her mind when Sarah revealed that the play was being dedicated to him and he needed to be on stage in order to be seen.

“Sarah, are you going to change or do you wanna present this masterpiece looking like a scullery maid?” Some unknown person called out from within the crowd of actors, crew and puppeteers.

Sarah’s eyes widened in sudden realization. “Oh, god! Has anyone seen my dress? It was in a black bag hanging around here somewhere!” She ran around the stage like a chicken with its head cut off. “Guys, where is my gown?”

Kathryn came out from behind stage left with a black garment bag. “You looking for this?”

“Is that the green one?”

Kathryn shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know. I didn’t open it, but it was the only thing around here that was hanging in a black bag.” She handed it over to Sarah and headed back for the dressing rooms.

Sarah didn’t dare open it until her hair was finished, but while she stood there looking at the seemingly ordinary garment bag, she felt as though someone were watching her watching it. A slight prickle of unease teased the tip of her spine just below her neck and she had to rub her hand there to erase the sensation.

 “Are you going to wear it, or watch it?” Jackie the hairdresser appeared out of nowhere, making Sarah jump. “Kathryn’s hair is finished, ma’am. I came to start on yours, but if you want to look like you just ran a marathon for your production, by all means, keep standing there.” This woman was in her mid fifties, but still looked as though she were forever frozen in her thirties. What little aging that was present was mostly around her weary eyes, but other than that, there was hardly a sign of anything other than fatigue. But who wasn’t tired after working for two straight weeks with little to no sleep? 

Sarah regained her dignity with a relieved smile. “Has Toby been to see you yet? My step-mother can be very testy if he isn’t presentable for these types of occasions.”

Jackie, who was a tiny woman with a fare face and bright curly red hair that was pinned back with the help of a hair clip, nodded. “Don’t worry, Sarah. He’s got his suit on over his ‘all blacks’. He’ll be ready to rip it off the second he gets off the stage. Does Shelley know that he isn’t sitting with her and your dad?”

Sarah laughed and shook her head while she allowed the petite woman guide her toward the back hallway that led to downstairs. “I doubt it, which means he is going to get an earful after the show. Meanwhile, I’ll get to watch the first act with her nagging in my ear because she can’t get her hands on him until intermission. I love the woman to death, but sometimes she can be a piece of work.”

Jackie laughed while they headed for the stairs. “She is just a concerned mother.” There was a pause. “I bet Linda would have been proud to see you now, if she were still here.”

Sarah missed a step and jolted forward, but caught herself as a deep pang of longing entered her heart. Her mother’s face filled her mind and she had to smile to hold back the sting of tears. “That’s what daddy said before I went to bed last night while we were talking on the phone.” Sarah swallowed a knot that was forming in her throat and continued to walk normally as if she hadn’t nearly thrown herself down two flights of stairs. “Come on, let’s get my hair fixed. I need to be on stage soon.” Any more talk of her mother was silenced before it could be started.


End file.
